Dallas, Texas

"…and this is where daddy works…" holding his son so that he could see the office, JR couldn't stop grinning; John Ross was still much too young to really understand anything anyone was saying to him, but he wasn't going to let that stop him from sharing his life with him and Ewing Oil was a big part of that. Many of his early childhood memories involved fun trips to visit his father at the office or out in the fields and he wanted John Ross to experience the same thing. It was only after Gary was born and his mother handed over parenting responsibility to his father did the visits become less about spending time sharing fun experiences and more about training and preparing him to one day be the president of Ewing Oil. He understood the difference though and being so aware of it, he knew that if he and Sue Ellen did have more children, he wouldn't repeat his own parents mistakes; he wouldn't show such obvious favouritism toward one child over another and he wouldn't put so much overwhelming pressure on John Ross to always be better and achieve more. Of course, like any good father, he wanted his child(ren) to be successful and make him proud, but he didn't want it to come at the expense of their happiness or emotional development and stability. He wasn't stupid, he knew that the way he'd been raised wasn't normal or healthy and even if he loved and respected his father, he wasn't going to blindly follow his directions; he had a family of his own now and he and Sue Ellen needed to do what was best for them and their son. "This is Diane, daddy's secretary", holding John Ross' hand as if he were waving, he waited for Diane to wave back and then turned toward Julie, "and this is Julie, granddaddy's secretary", waving at her too, he then pointed at Bobby's office door, "that's where your uncle Bobby works, but he's not here right now". He then turned toward his father, "and you already know your granddaddy", in seeing his grandfather, John Ross let out a small gurgle, one that the family had come to identify as him expressing some happiness at the familiarity of a situation. "That's my grandson, so smart and handsome already", Jock, even though he wasn't particularly attuned to emotions, had a real soft spot for his grandchildren and he enjoyed doting upon them; it was less stressful and more fun than parenting and it made him proud to know that his family would continue to be great even after he was gone.

Observing the situation, Sue Ellen was pleased that everything appeared to be going well; Miss Ellie had convinced her that it would be nice for her to bring John Ross into the office for a visit, but knowing that JR was usually focused on one thing when he was at the office, she had been a little hesitant. Bringing it up in front of the family at breakfast though, both Jock and JR had surprised her with their enthusiasm at the possibility of seeing the newest little Ewing during work hours and their enthusiasm had encouraged her to do it. John Ross was exactly a month old today and she knew that it was about time that he began to see more of life than just what Southfork offered, even if they had an extensive amount of land for him to explore. She was planning to return to her charity work and DOA meetings in a few weeks and she was interested in checking out a few mothers and baby groups that Doctor Krane had told her about and with her exercise regimen and twice-weekly therapy appointments, her schedule was beginning fill up, just the way she liked. For the most part, she was happy and with the help of Doctor Williams, she was already feeling more confident about the future; she couldn't deny that she had a long way to go before she was the woman she wanted to be, but simply knowing she had someone to support her unconditionally was already doing wonders for her psyche.

Rolling her eyes as JR's perfect little wife and adorable new son arrived at the office, Julie couldn't help but feel jealous and annoyed; she didn't even like children that much, but that didn't stop her from wishing that she were standing in Sue Ellen's place and the little boy in JR's arms was their son. She and JR had really had something special and if JR hadn't been so insistent about having the 'right' woman as his wife and the mother of his child, he could have had the son he wanted years ago; she would've gladly gotten pregnant and been a mother to his child if it meant having a real future with him. It annoyed her that Sue Ellen's presence in JR's life had changed him so much, he was a lot different to how he had been in the past and she wasn't entirely sure she liked the new JR Ewing, for one, he practically ignored her now. It also irked her that despite having gained at least thirty pounds during her pregnancy, a short month after giving birth, Sue Ellen once again looked like the model and beauty queen she had been in her youth; the woman appeared to have too much control over both JR and her own life and it annoyed Julie to no end. It should have been her standing next to JR, not Sue Ellen. "Julie?" hearing Diane's sweet voice, she was brought back into the present, "yes Diane?" noticing her co-worker had the smallest Ewing in her arms, she then worked out why she was speaking, "would you like to hold him?" Ordinarily, she wasn't particularly maternal and she had no real desire to spend time with or even think about children, but right now, with her previous thoughts, something inside her was telling her to hold him. As Diane passed the small, delicate little baby to her, she felt him squirm for a moment before settling; looking at him, she understood why people liked babies, he was rather cute; perhaps children weren't so bad after all. "Aren't you sweet?" getting into it, she bounced him on her knee for a moment, as if it were something that was a completely natural action to her. If she couldn't be Mrs JR Ewing or the mother of John Ross Ewing III, she could at least pretend that she was in her mind; showing a small amount of maternal affection might even show JR what he was missing out on.

"Er, Julie", ignoring Sue Ellen's soft voice, she soon regretted everything; her happy thoughts and actions and wilful disregard of Sue Ellen's attempt to get her attention hadn't turned out in the way she had expected and now covered in baby spit up, any semblance of a positive attitude toward children was gone. Letting out a loud, shocked scream and then a string of annoyed words, she practically thrust the icky creature into his mother's arms and despite the fact that Sue Ellen appeared to be apologising, she sensed that there was also a little smugness in her words. In Sue Ellen's mind, her apologies were only necessary to save face; she had tried to warn Julie that bouncing her son so soon after eating was a recipe for disaster, but she had been ignored and Julie learned it all on her own. In a bitchy way, she was almost glad that it had happened to Julie, she wasn't the sweet woman she tried to pretend she was and she deserved some punishment for sleeping with a married man for years and not feeling at all bad about it. John Ross wasn't connected to that situation in any way, but Sue Ellen didn't care; she couldn't exactly slap Julie in front of everyone, especially not now that her relationship with JR was over, but that didn't mean she didn't want to. John Ross's actions, no matter how innocent, natural or disconnected to the past, caused Sue Ellen no sorrow; the way she saw it, Julie hadn't paid any price for her adulterous actions, so she deserved a little retribution and whether the punishment fit the crime was irrelevant.

Letting out a loud laugh, Jock interrupted Julie's dramatics and Sue Ellen's apologies; women always made a much bigger deal out of things than they really were and this was no exception. "Whoop, looks like you moved him too much; same thing happened to Bobby last week. It's ok, no real harm done, he'll be fine", turning his attention toward Sue Ellen and the now increasing cries of his grandson, he locked eyes with her and knew everything would be fine, she was far from incapable and despite the pained sounds coming from her son, she had it all under control. "JR's office is free if you need a little space", having an increased amount of respect for her since the birth of his first grandson, he had subconsciously begun to treat both she and JR more fairly and kindly and his tone of voice reflected those feelings. Julie may have been covered in spit up, but his primary concern was John Ross' wellbeing. Nodding, Sue Ellen walked into JR's office and JR followed closely behind her with his son's diaper bag; turning back to Julie, Jock finally acknowledged her discomfort, "you may go home and change or take the rest of the afternoon off if you'd like, whatever you choose. Diane is capable of fielding my calls for the rest of the afternoon if necessary", his words were honest and true, he liked Julie as a person and even though John Ross was his number one priority in the situation, he saw no reason to add to her hurt or humiliation. Nodding and quietly collecting her things, Julie thanked him and quickly left the office; she hadn't gotten anything she wanted today, but there was one thing she was now sure of, any small desire to have children, with JR or any other man, was now gone. Sue Ellen could have JR if it meant putting up with the hot, smelly, dirty, noisy little creature that they now called John Ross Ewing III; she wanted no part of it, not even in her fantasy life.

To be continued…